Citrix Buys Sanbolic to Power Virtual Desktop Deployments

Sanbolic's IP will enable users to better tune their storage systems for the deployment of application-specific workloads from any media type.

Citrix continues to put together a diverse collection of enterprise IT tools and products.
On Jan. 12, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company revealed it has acquired Sanbolic, which makes workload-oriented storage virtualization software, to simplify Windows application delivery and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) deployments in the enterprise. Financial details of the transaction were not released.
The acquisition of Sanbolic's IP will enable users to better tune their storage systems for the deployment of application-specific workloads from any media type. This includes NAND flash solid-state and spinning-disk hard drives in NAS (network-attached storage), SAN (storage area networks) and server-side and cloud deployments.
Sanbolic's technology improves storage load balancing and application availability and delivers a high-performance end-user experience, Citrix said.

The acquisition, combined with other well-known Citrix products—XenDesktop, XenApp and XenMobile—will enable the company to further develop a range of differentiated VDI packages.

With Sanbolic, enterprises will be able to deploy virtual apps and VDI across their organizations while guaranteeing workload service level agreements through the platform's enhanced quality of service.
While server hardware and software licensing costs are well understood, storage often presents the biggest barrier to cost-effective VDI implementations. Some 200 Citrix customers already use Sanbolic to guarantee non-stop availability and geo-clustering of their XenApp and XenDesktop solutions.
Citrix, probably best known for its GoToMeeting collaboration application, made the move back into enterprise infrastructure sector with Sanbolic after it has made news the past few years in the very different mobility space.
Last May, at its Synergy show in Los Angeles, Citrix partnered with Cisco Systems to introduce Workspace Suite, which is designed to give businesses a single solution that can support multiple corporate and personal devices—a key need given the rise of bring-your-own-device (BYOD) practices, in which employees use personal smartphones and tablets for work—and give employees immediate access to corporate applications, data and services. This will compete directly against current market products from VMware.
In June, Citrix unveiled some new mobile apps called Experiments, aimed at small businesses or small teams, with the idea of improving individual efficiency, group collaboration, communication and, of course, access.
One of them is built upon Podio, a Danish company it bought in 2012. Podio is a cloud-based app that helps users manage projects and collaborate with colleagues. Its interface is clean and modern and looks like Facebook meets Google+. There are lines for different deliverables, each of which can have its own ecosystem of comments and collaborative remarks and shared documents.